When Aylon Berger and Zak Bedrosian arrived at AU this fall, they noticed that it was easy to get lost in all of the events happening in Washington.
“Our first week here on campus, there was a welcome week guide telling us the things to do, but it didn’t really go that deep and we wanted to know what opportunities to take advantage of,” Berger said. “There was no centralized place to find out what was going on.”
That’s why the two freshmen created TheMove, a weekly newsletter that they describe as the “only guide solely dedicated to deciphering the social scene at AU and in D.C.” The pair published their first issue, featuring short descriptions and photos describing events, restaurants, clubs and more, in early September.
Starting TheMove was an opportunity to help other people who were overwhelmed and unsure of where to go outside of school, Bedrosian said. The duo’s process for discovering events that students are interested in includes searching ticketing services, like Eventbrite, and looking through hundreds of events in the D.C. area, Berger said.
“Lots of readers have come up to us with positive feedback because, in the past, they have had to go look on Facebook or ask a friend about certain events, so this really puts everything in a more centralized place,” Berger said.
Along with online research of events, Berger and Bedrosian have also gained firsthand experience of the places they recommend. Bedrosian is a self-proclaimed “foodie” and is always looking for new restaurants to try that are tasty and affordable for college students.
However, the co-founders stress that they want readers to do more than eat at cool restaurants in the District. They are always looking to innovate and expand, hoping to give readers a new experience of D.C., Berger said.
“It’s all about the readers, so when they ask us for updates or a change in a section, we’re always down to do that because we are by AU students for AU students,” Berger said.
Currently, the majority of subscribers to TheMove are freshmen, so Berger and Bedrosian hope to expand the reach of their newsletter to the entire AU community.
“We would like everyone to know that TheMove is still a process,” Bedrosian said. “Hopefully, we’re going to continue to grow and give the readers what they want to read.”
